Need cheap gaming computer advice...

[mlah384]

I'm trying to get an old computer running for our 10 year old to play games this summer. He wants to play COD, Diablo 3 (whenever it comes out), etc...

The old computer currently has:

Mobo - MSI K8N Neo Platinum (version 1)
Memory - three Corsair 512mb ddr400
CPU - I forget which one but it is a 64bit (3200 i think?)
vid card - ati radeon 9800 pro 128m
HD - Seagate barracuda 7200.7 200gb ata (wish it was sata)
Old antec case with 350w power supply (SL350)

I have a couple flat screens laying around and dvd burners..

I was thinking of upgrading the video card to: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=4436047

Is that a good idea for the money? I'm trying to spend as little as possible.

Should I get an sata hard drive? or will it not matter on this setup?

Also, will windows 7 run on this hardware? or will I have to run XP?

Thanks!

 

[Jimmah]

You can't use that card, your board only supports AGP sadly. You might be able to find an old card on the FS forum, or you could get a setup someone is upgrading out of, else you're looking at mostly a whole new system.

 

[Slugbait]

That 9800 Pro is a classic...depending on the native rez of the monitors, you may not need that much horsepower: assuming 17", it should drive games reasonably well at 1024x768.

IIRC, the K8N supported the slowest of SATA...you might not see much of a perf boost over the IDE drive.

The 3200+ wasn't a slouch for its time, it could be serviceable for Win7. But the bigger concern is the RAM...less than 2 gigs, I would personally go with XP. You'll get better gaming performance.

 

[fffblackmage]

Stick with XP, you do not want to run Windows 7 with just 1.5GB of ram. Just booting to the desktop with almost nothing opened takes 1GB alone for me.

Just FYI though, minimum system requirements for Windows 7 is 1GB of ram and 1GHz 32-bit processor, which is kinda vague, but I'm sure the 3200+ is more than sufficient. Other than to test it out, I wouldn't actually use it.

 

[Rifter]

You need a AGP card. Stick to as low res as possible on the monitor so you wont need as powerful of a card. And i dont think you have a hope of playing D3 on that computer without a major CPU and GPU upgrade.

 

[mlah384]

Bah, I thought that visiontec card was AGP....

Any recommendations for an AGP card? And will the card work using a 350W power-supply?

I thought about getting 3 gigs of ram but it would be about $80 - $100 and I didn't think it was worth it.

I had this in mind for building a new one but not sure about spending the money especially if just getting an AGP card for old computer would get by:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103903 $60.99

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138179 $49.99

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $40.99 ($30.99 after mail in rebate crap)

Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150513 $84.99

PS (I wouldn't think 350w would be enough for a decent vid card): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $49.99 ($39.99 after mail in rebate crap)

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $44.99

Total is $345.81 after $13.87 shipping... but then I would hopefully get back $20 in rebates (i hate mail-in rebates!)

Or do you have better picks/ideas?

 

[Jimmah]

Check the FS forum if you're cool with used and want a deal. You can get a pretty good system for less than your new build which is likely to be as fast or faster.

 

[Morphx2]

I have my old system parts for sale since i just built a new one yesterday.

It is a Core2Duo E8xxx (forget which offhand), a GeForce 6800 (i think videocard), motherboard, and RAM if you are interested. I will probably sell it super cheap as well.

 

[mlah384]

I have my old system parts for sale since i just built a new one yesterday.

It is a Core2Duo E8xxx (forget which offhand), a GeForce 6800 (i think videocard), motherboard, and RAM if you are interested. I will probably sell it super cheap as well.

I sent you PM

 

[mfenn]

Bah, I thought that visiontec card was AGP....

Any recommendations for an AGP card? And will the card work using a 350W power-supply?

I thought about getting 3 gigs of ram but it would be about $80 - $100 and I didn't think it was worth it.

I had this in mind for building a new one but not sure about spending the money especially if just getting an AGP card for old computer would get by:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103903 $60.99

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138179 $49.99

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $40.99 ($30.99 after mail in rebate crap)

Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150513 $84.99

PS (I wouldn't think 350w would be enough for a decent vid card): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $49.99 ($39.99 after mail in rebate crap)

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687 $44.99

Total is $345.81 after $13.87 shipping... but then I would hopefully get back $20 in rebates (i hate mail-in rebates!)

Or do you have better picks/ideas?

These parts look pretty good to me. I'd say to go for that because you're not going to get anything close to the caliber of a GTS 250 in an AGP slot.

 

[thecrecarc]

I also recommend a new system. You should consider this combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.638451
which is a pretty good deal. Throw in the corsair power supply on your list, and add in either a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150482 [/U](with mail in rebate).

You'll get a system that is slightly cheaper without any mail in rebate (if you get gpu #1), and a free case to boot. Win-win.